Stair-rail joint.



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WALTER W. BURNS, OF FROSTBURG, MARYLAND.

STAIR-RAIL JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 3, 1907.

Application filed October 11, 1906. $eria1No. 338,340.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER W. BURNS, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Frostburg, in the county of Allegany and State ofMaryland, have invented new and useful Improvements in Stair-RailJoints, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved stair rail joint, designed toprovide a means by which the sections of a stair rail may be quickly andconveniently coupled together in such a manner as to effect a saving oftime and labor over the customary joining operation, as well as toenable the rail sections to be firmly and securely connected againstboth independent vertical and lateral motion without the absolutenecessity of gluing the joint.

The invention is further designed to provide a joint which will permitof the ready disconnection of the rail sections when occasion requiresand which will enable such sections to be easily and economicallymanufactured.

In the accompanying drawingFigure 1 is a bottom plan view of two railsections connected by my improved joint. Fig. 2 is a longitudinalsection through the joint Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the rail ends,showing the construction of the members of the joint.

Referring to the drawings, 1 and 2 represent stair rail sectionsembodying the elements of the joint constituting my invention. As shown,the section 1. is provided with upper and lower mortises 3 and 4 openingthrough the meeting end thereof, said mortises being respectivelyprovided with beveled upper walls 5 and 6 inclining inwardly anddownwardly from the entrances thereof. The mortise 4 opens at its basethrough the bottom of the section 1 and is of the dovetailed type,having its side walls beveled inwardly and downwardly, asclearly shownin Fig. 3. The rail section 2 is provided upon its meeting end withtenons 8 and 9 for insertion into said mortises, the said tenons beingrespectively formed with beveled upper faces 10 and 1]. which inclinedownwardly and outwardly and are adapted to engage the beveled upperwalls 5 and 6. The tenons are disposed in superposed relation, and thetenon 9 is of the dovetail type, its sides 12 being tapered or beveledto conform to the bevel of the faces 7 of the mortise 4. The entrancesof the mortises are so arranged that when the meeting ends of the railsections are brought together and the outer ends of the tenons insertedwithin the mortises the upper surface of the section 2 will lie abovethe upper surface of the section 1, and so that when the section 2 isforced inwardly to insert the tenons in the mortises in their fullextent the beveled walls 5, 6, 10 and 11 will force the tenons downwarduntil, when said tenons are fully inserted and the ends of the sectionsabut, the upper and lower surfaces of said sections will lie flush witheach other.

It. will be observed that when the tenon 9 is fully inserted in themortise 4 the bottom surface of said tenon will be exposed at the bottomof the mortise and lie flush with the base of the section 2, thussecuring a flush construction, and that the peculiar form of the tenonsand mortises will insure such a firm connection that it will effectuallyprevent the rails from having either vertical or lateral movement, bywhich it will be apparent that the sections will be maintained at alltimes in alinement.

It will be further observed that the frictional engagement between theelements of the joint will serve to hold the parts connected againstendwisc movement, except when some little force is exerted, and that asa vertical movement of one section relative to the other is necessary inconnecting and disconnecting said sections, no two sections of a stairrail equipped with the invention can become disconnected under allordinary circumstances in use, as the joining of several sectionstogether will prevent such vertical movement of either end of any one ofthe sections. Hence the construction described will enable a firm andsecure joint to be obtained without the use of glue, and will enable thesection of a rail to be quickly and conveniently joined.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

In a rail joint, a rail'section having an upper mortise provided with aninwardly and downwardly inclined top wall and a lower dovetailedmortisehaving a similarly inclined top wall, in combination with a second railsection provided with an upper tongue to enter the upper mortise andhaving a beveled upper surface and a lower dovetailed tongue-having anupper beveled surface, said beveled surfaces of the mortise and tonguesoperating to force the tongues downward in the mortises when the railsare brought together.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WALTER W. BURNS.

Witnesses:

ALEXANDER Sums, CLARENCE S. WADE.

